


Solitaire

by Lauren (notalwaysweak)



Category: Lord of the Rings (2001 2002 2003)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-12-31
Updated: 2002-12-31
Packaged: 2017-10-05 15:44:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notalwaysweak/pseuds/Lauren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An interlude in the Mines of Moria. Perhaps not the best place for such a tryst, but what the hell. Merry/Pippin. Pippin's just dropped a rock down the well, and been given the first guard watch as a reward for being a fool of a Took.</p><p>Dedicated to my Pippin and Mary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Solitaire

**Author's Note:**

> Lord of the Rings characters belong to J.R.R. Tolkien.

Pippin sat miserably by the door in the pitch dark. He heard the others settling themselves, the sudden deep rumble of Gimli's snores, and strained his eyes trying to see something more than blackness.

'Gandalf, how am I supposed to keep watch when I can't even see?' he asked, hoping the wizard was still awake.

There was a sigh, and a clatter of stones, and the luminescent glow from Gandalf's staff softly lit the room. 'I am wary of keeping this alight, but as you say, it is hard to guard when what you are guarding against is unseeable,' the wizard muttered, rolling himself back up in his cloak, and apparently falling asleep.

The small light was some comfort, although the shadows where the light did not reach seemed to move, and more than once Pippin started up at what was only an unsubstantial piece of the darkness, appearing to move as he stared at it for too long.

To distract himself, Pippin decided to hunt out his cards. He felt sure that he would hear any enemy approach, be it Orcs or whatever else it was that Gandalf had hinted at. He needed something to keep his eyes from the darkness, and cards seemed just the thing. He had tucked them deep into his pack, just in case, and forgotten about them until now.

Laying the small cards out in a neat solitaire pattern, Pippin became aware that someone was watching him. He looked from side to side and peered out through the doorway, the hair prickling on the back of his neck, then looked back to his companions to see Merry watching him.

'Oh, it's you! I thought an Orc was staring at me,' Pippin said.

'No, only me,' Merry said, propping himself up on one elbow and looking at the cards. 'I can't sleep.' He made a vague gesture about the room. 'It's this place. It's like sleeping in a tomb.'

Pippin shuddered, and looked down at the cards in his hand to hide his distaste. 'I shouldn't think I could sleep if I tried,' he said, moving a few cards and frowning.

'You'd better not try. Gandalf would have you thrown down that well, I expect.' Merry moved closer and looked at the cards again. 'You could play that--'

Pippin's glare cut him off.

'Only saying,' he mumbled.

'If I ever got lost with only these cards, I should get help only by starting this game. I might be in the middle of a field and someone would come from nowhere to tell me to play the red on the black,' Pippin said, turning up another card and finding no place for it. 'Drat!'

'I fear we shall never see a field again,' Merry said in a low voice. 'This place feels bad. It wants to keep us here.'

Pippin looked at him, puzzled. 'Merry, it's just a place. How can it want anything? You're mad.'

'But what if I'm not mad? What if I'm right? In a place like this, anything might happen. There's darkness all around us. I can't see properly here. This isn't a place for a hobbit at all.' Merry's hand reached out, found Pippin's, squeezed tightly. 'How I wish we were home!'

Clearly, Pippin wasn't going to finish his game. One-handed, he fumbled the cards back into the pack, then took Merry's other hand in his. He could feel Merry shaking, though with fear or cold he could not say. This was an unfamiliar position to be in, this place of comforter; being the youngest Pippin was more often the one being comforted.

'We'll be out soon. You should try to sleep,' he said.

'I don't think I could sleep,' Merry said. 'It's this place.' He was still shivering.

Pippin settled back against his pack as comfortably as he could manage, and drew Merry into his arms, Merry's back against his chest. Merry's blanket covered the two of them nicely.

'Do try and sleep,' Pippin urged. 'See, you're safe, and I'll keep watch.'

The heavy warmth of the other hobbit against him was almost Pippin's undoing. He was so tired himself, and with Merry nestled against him he was warmer and probably more comfortable than the other members of the Fellowship. Even though Merry was restless, it was comforting, as well. Pippin, too, had a strong sense of melancholy homesickness for the Shire, and right now felt that even if he had to fight off a dozen Black Riders to get there, he wanted to go home.

He became aware that Merry was moving. Just one hand, in the familiar rhythm of every night spent without company. Torn between revulsion and a kind of fascination, Pippin reached down to stop him -- but when his hand touched Merry, Merry let out a soft sigh. It couldn't hurt, could it? This solitary act could only be enhanced by the presence of another -- and then perhaps Merry could relax and sleep. Pippin could feel Merry's reaction and knew that the other hobbit was silently craving the personal contact, as if it was a balm to his fears.

Pippin kept telling himself he was only doing this for Merry's sake, even as Merry pushed hard against his hand, crying out quietly as warm wetness spilled into Pippin's palm. He didn't expect reciprocation. He certainly didn't except Merry's deft hands, his warm mouth and darting tongue. It was enough that he ended up crying out a lot louder than Merry had, and there was a rattle of pebbles in the shadows as one of the others moved in their sleep.

It was Gandalf. He was awake, and his shaggy eyebrows raised as he regarded the panting hobbit thoughtfully. Merry's head popped up from underneath the blanket and he froze in shock.

'Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Peregrin Took,' the old wizard said at last. 'I might have known.'


End file.
